MJJS

That is very good value.

18 minutes ago, yangtze2000 said:

Hi all! First post here. Never played a bass before. 60 y.o., bad back, small hands, so short scale appeals to me. I'm thinking Ibanez TMB 30, Ibanez GSRM20B GIO miKro, or Harley Benton PB.

 

I promise I'll try before I buy because it's largely a subjective thing, but with that out of the way, please feel free to tell me what to buy, and/or make any comparative comments. I'm certainly interested in build quality and reliability, but other comments would be gratefully received

Start with a 305 😉

There is a short scale ACG Krell for sale on BC. If you live near Liverpool I’d strongly advise you to go and take a look if you’re after a modern bass.

That looks like it will balance well.

3 hours ago, LeftyJ said:

Oooh, those look lovely. I have the Baby Z4-J, which has the same electronics package as the ZPO in this ad, the same narrow 17mm spacing at the bridge and probably a very similar narrow neck shape, but with a Mustang / Musicmaster body shape which doesn't balance as well (slightly neckdivey). I adore that bass, it's incredibly fun to play and has a lovely modern active Jazz Bass tone. 

I have a ZPO5 and it balances as a normal jazz. The B on it is great, so you can imagine how good a 4 would be.

There are currently two Atelier ZPOs available at Bass Japan Direct.
 

https://reverb.com/uk/item/76277268-atelier-z-zpo4-2016-transparent-blue

What are the pre amp controls?

The original had just treble & bass.

Having had a look at both posts, the wood grains look suspiciously identical to me.

1 hour ago, Gunsfreddy2003 said:

You can clearly tell that I’m no quantity surveyor!

Actually the spec is a 518 bridge, so it’s clearly 18mm!

You’re all thinking it.

68/4 = 17mm

😉

I personally don’t like the grating of fingers over round stings on fretless and find D’Adario chrome flats to be the smoothest metal strings. However, Labella nylons are like glass.

If you want to really add something different and new, have a think about an inexpensive EUB to play with for a while. If that takes your fancy, I’d recommend the Discover Double Bass starter course to help you get going as the hand technique at the start is important.

Looks great.

So a 35.4” scale and 18mm string spacing.

I think this is the second such bass to appear here in about 6 months and getting on for half the price of the previous one. I wish I had bigger hands as I can’t do much more than 16mm on a 6er!

I wanted to try out the ACG01 filter preamp that John East sells on an fretless and so decided to utilise a Harley Benton as a vehicle to house it. The bass is ridiculously good and comfortable for the money before I made any changes.

However I ploughed on and replaced the preamp and the strings with D’Adarios chrome flats that I’ve found the best fretless string for my taste.

The result is a pretty good WAL-a-like (to an extent) but a rather indulgent build. 

Sire U5 ( which is 4 string )

Atelier ZPO 4 (if you can find one)

If your budget runs to an ACG you won’t be disappointed.

On 11/10/2023 at 19:59, binky_bass said:

A thou is super cheap for this bass. Probably the best bargain on BC at the moment. T'were it a 6, it'd already be at home with me! 

Or me, especially if it was a shorter scale!!

I own a 5er that’s fitted with Labella flats. It does the old thud thing very well. The neck feels wide at the dusty end.

Here’s mine from about ‘85 that I had made fretless when new. Still works!

Great fun bass.

So you convinced yourself to sell then ……

GLWTS

19 minutes ago, jd56hawk said:

Not to mention the money.

What, $1,500 and up.

I just passed a really nice G4M bass down the line for £400 with a bag and pickup. Starter double basses are making strides like starter electric basses…..

Before you buy an ‘acoustic’ bass try a double bass for a while if you don’t have one already.

I’d chuck in the Chowny, it’s a new UK bass and there aren’t that many.

1 hour ago, three said:

Ahh, the short scale that feels like a 35”.  Utterly beautiful but utterly horrible on a strap (IMO)

Mine has the front strap pin on the horn, so not as bad as the original positioning.

Also

Atelier ZPO5